Fix You
by DMBSJB18
Summary: AU Clary Frays parents run the Institute in California. Clary never thought she would leave, she never had a reason to. Everything changed when tragedy struck and she was forced to run and start over in New York. Clary/Jace
1. A New Beginning

**Hello! This is my first Fan Fiction for The Mortal Instruments series! I have previously written a few for The O.C. but that was years ago, and I never posted here on this site. This story has been begging me to tell it... :) So here I am! Telling it!**

**I always love having a very strong female character in my stories. It makes me (and the character) feel so empowered. I feel like that mixed in with drama is a great mix! I have added in dance and music - mainly because those are two passions of mine! **

**Anyways, read and review!**

**I hope you like it!**

**Meg**

**Oh and I don't own Clary or Jace :( Or any other TMI character! Just fyi :) All their wonderfulness was conceived by Cassandra Clare!**

***

She walked up to the doors of the Institute, wanting to get it over with. She had never had to ask anyone for help before - she had always been the one that people asked to help them. This felt so wrong, so backwards. She knocked loudly a couple times, waiting for an answer. When it didn't come she rang the door bell and tapped her foot impatiently. As the afternoon sun beat down on her she tried to push all of the reasons that she was here out of her head. When she had left her family at the Institute in California she wanted an escape. She wanted out of the Shadowhunting life, not because it had necessarily done anything to her, but because it was tied to everything that had happened. She figured if she could put her whole life previous to this in the past, if she could erase every similarity between her old life and her new life, she would be able to forget.

She had thought that moving to New York was the key to starting over, to escaping her past. At first it was. She had gotten a job at a dance studio as a dance instructor - one of her passions in life. She fell in love, or at least that's what she thought it was, and moved in with her boyfriend. He was perfect and so was her non shadow hunting life - or so she thought. As quickly as all the 'good' in her life had come, it began to fall away. One night, after a long day in the studio helping her dance team get ready for competition, she came home to find her boyfriend in bed with one of her co workers. She couldn't say that she hadn't seen this coming - they always flirted incessantly when she had her 'friend' over for drinks.

From that moment on her world started crashing down on her. She quit her job due to the fact that she couldn't handle seeing that girl every day. She moved out of her boyfriends apartment and into a hotel. She contemplated heading back to California, trying to start over again, but that seemed unfathomable. She couldn't go back, she just couldn't. Finally, out of desperation, she found herself on the front doorsteps of the Institute in New York.

She jumped as the door scraped open revealing a boy about her age. She felt her breathe hitch in her throat as she took in his appearance. The blonde locks falling into his perfect carmel colored eyes. The faint scars of ruins accentuating his finely toned arms. In that second she forgot how to speak. She looked down at her shoes as she collected herself - feeling the boys eyes on her the whole time. Finally she sucked in a breathe and looked up again, "Are the Lightwoods here?" She asked, hoping that her voice was steady. "Uh, yeah, come on in," the boy motioned moving the door open wide. She picked up her duffel bag that was sitting at her feet and followed him through the room, barely registering that they were walking through what looked like a church.

The whole way up the elevator and to the library, as the boy had called it, she was silent, not knowing what to say. They stopped in front of the library doors and she looked at the boy expectantly. As if understanding why she was looking at him, he opened the doors and walked in before her. Once inside she surveyed the scene in front of her. The towering book shelves were full of rich looking texts. The desk was made of deep mahogany and the sofas that were scattered throughout the room were a made of deep brown leather. She noticed two people sitting on one of the couches. They were looking at her and the boy, waiting for them to talk.

"Marsye, Robert... this is...", the boy turned around as if just realizing that he didn't know her name.

"Clary," she said, walking over to the couches and stretching out her hand, which the woman, Marsye accepted warmly, "I uh.. I was wondering if I could talk to you." She scuffed her stylish Marc Jacobs flat into the deep carpet and started fidgeting her hands.

As if sensing Clarys nerves Maryse stood up, "Of course," she started in, and then remembering Jace still standing by the door, "Jace, you can go now. Thanks for showing Clary up here." Jace looked at Marsye and then again at Clary as if he wanted to stay, but knowing that he couldn't argue with his adopted mom he turned around and left. Maryse looked back at Clary and motioned to the spot next to her on the couch, "Why don't you come over here Clary, it's much better to talk while sitting comfortably." Clary nodded and perched herself on the end of the couch readying herself to ask for something she never had to ask before - help.

**

The door shut behind Jace and he immediately headed to the weapon room where he had left Alec waiting for him when he went to answer the door. He wasn't sure who he had expected it to be when he opened the door but she was definitely not it. He smirked to himself when he remember how flushed she seemed to be when he opened the door. When her eyes had raked over his body and then had ended up on the ground. He was glad that she had been too preoccupied to see the look in his eyes- as he had looked her up and down exactly the same way.

She was short, about 5'2" if he had to guess. Her hair hung to halfway down her back and was the most amazing color of red with blonde highlights that he had ever seen. The highlights seemed to be sparkling in the setting sun. Her eyes were big and green with long eyelashes that framed them. She had expertly applied mascara that had brought out the fullness of them. Her skin was a milky white with only a smattering of freckles across her nose. And then there was her mouth. Oh hell, her mouth. Her lips had been pulled into a slight frown, as if she had the weight of the world hovering over her. Her plump bottom lip had been pulled in between her white teeth and he couldn't help but notice the rose tint to her naked lips. When she finally had looked up at him and asked about Robert and Marsye he had collected himself.

When Marsye had dismissed him from the library he thought about protesting. He wanted to know what she, Clary, wanted. But he knew better than to argue with Marsye and so he left. Finding himself back at the door of the weapons room he shook his head, she was gorgeous, sure, but he had seen many gorgeous girls in his life. They flitted in and out of it and that was the way he liked it. He opened the door and looked around, at the weapons. That was what his life was all about - weapons and fighting demons. And he wouldn't have it any other way.

**

Clary sighed as she kicked off her shoes and flopped down on the, er, her, bed. Marsye had listened to Clarys story and had agreed that it would be best for her to stay in New York, seeing as how the Institute was supposed to be a safe haven for shadow hunters in need of help. She had shown Clary to her room and told her that dinner would be in about an hour. She gave her directions to the kitchen and then left, knowing that Clary needed some time to herself. Clary looked around the room noticing all the resemblances between it and her room at home. There was a bed, a desk and a dresser. Connected to the room was a small bathroom. Clary stood up and went into it, finding warm soft towels and a bathrobe hanging there, waiting for her - inviting her to escape into the confines of a hot shower.

Clary resisted the urge and went back to the bed where she had discarded her duffel bag. She unzipped it and began taking things out. On the top were pictures, pictures of her family and her best friend. Clary was the oldest of 6 kids. In the shadowhunting world having that many kids was unheard of, but her family had never cared what other people thought of them. She looked at the picture that her family had taken just six months ago. She let her finger run over the glass as she took in each one of her siblings.

The hole in her heart that she had been trying to mask for the last three months of being in New York opened up again. Just younger than her she had a brother, Drew - short for Andrew. He had always been Clarys best friend. They did everything together. They were _parabati_. But now she wasn't there to fill her half of the partnership. Then came a sister, Stephanie, who was so much like Clary in so many ways. They both loved to dance almost more than anything else in the world. They had the same hair, the same eyes. Though there was a four year difference between the two, Clary always knew that Steph understood her in everyway. Then there was Robbie, her brother. He was just hitting his awkward teenage years.

She laughed as she remembered the last time she had talked to him on the phone and his voice had squeeked. Clary felt a pange of sadness surge through her body when she realized she was missing that part of his life. She pushed that thought out of her head as she thought of her two littlest sisters: Elizabeth and Allison - also known as Eliza and Allie. Allie was the youngest, only six years old. When she had been born Clary had been upset with her parents. She didn't want any more siblings and she felt like her parents were out to get her. But in the eight years after that Clary began to realize that she wouldn't trade Allie for anything. Clary had formed a bond with her that only an oldest sister could. The protectiveness that she felt for her siblings was a feeling that went unmatched by any other feeling Clary had. They were hers and she had left them.

The tears that began hitting the glass of the picture startled Clary out of her reverie. She hadn't even noticed she was crying though her face was covered in tears. Clary set the picture on the desk next to her bed, if she couldn't be with them at least she could see their faces everyday. She then picked up the next picture that was of her and her best friend, Simon. He had his arm draped across her shoulders and she was looking up at him laughing. She couldn't quite remember what had happened when this picture was snapped but Clary knew she was happy, she was always happy when she was with Simon. She set that picture next to the one of her and her family. She looked around, not wanting to unpack anymore. This wasn't her home she had to keep reminding herself. There was no reason to put things in the dresser or the closet. Her only home was in California, with her family and best friend.

Clary walked to the sink in the bathrooom and splashed water onto her face, cooling down her cheeks which felt hot from her tears. She then dabbed at her eyes and fixed her make up. She had to be strong. She would be strong. This - where she was and what had happened - wasn't going to break her. She wouldn't let it.


	2. Dancing My Pain Away

**Thank you guys so much for your wonderful reviews!! So I put an A/N at the beginning of the last chapter but it didn't show up for some reason ****L**

**Basically I love The Mortal Instruments! I have been thinking about it for awhile and this story has been begging me to tell it! I'm serious! So finally I caved… ****J**

**I will slowly let everyone know why Clary had to leave California! It's pretty sad actually.**

**Anyways, I don't own Clary or Jace… though I wish I did! But I do own this story! And I do own several characters that are going to be making appearances throughout the story! **

**Please read and review!**

**Love, Meg**

**

Dinner was Chinese. Dinner was always Chinese, Jace thought as he flipped one of his MooShoo Porks across his plate.

"You know, someone should really learn how to cook in our family," Jace muttered as he shoved some food in his mouth.

"Mom knows how to cook," a girl with silky black hair answered, "and I've been trying to learn for forever! But no one gives my cooking the time of day."

"Maybe, Isabelle, that would be because whatever you cook isn't even edible," Jace laughed at what his stepbrother Alec said, knowing it was true. He loved this, he loved the banter between the three of them. Even Max, the youngest Lightwood, would join in on the fun every now and then. Jace looked over at him and noticed that he was to absorbed in his comic books to notice what they were talking about. Jace realized again how lucky he had gotten. When his dad died when he was 6 he had no idea what was going to become of him. But then the Lightwoods took him in and had taken care of him like one of their own sons. He had now lived with them for 13 years and barely remembered his life before. Every now and then he would have a dream with his father in it, but in the morning when he woke up he would realize that it was just a dream and he was right where he was supposed to be.

The door swung open and the girl from earlier, Clary, walked in looking a little unsure of herself. Her eyes swept the room and then landed on Jace. "Hi," she said not moving from her place by the door.

"Hey," Jace said and then turned back to his siblings, "this is Clary..." he started but was interrupted by Isabelle.

"Of course this is Clary!" Isabelle jumped up out of her seat and headed over to Clary grabbing her hand, "My mom told us that you would be staying with us for awhile!" She tugged Clary over to the table and pulled out a seat for her, "You better eat quickly otherwise Jace is going to have it all gone before you even start!"

Clary sat down looking flustered. Jace laughed under his breathe, Isabelle could be such a dominant person sometimes. But she was friendly; he'd give her that.

"Thanks," Clary murmured as she put a little bit of food on her plate.

"I'm Isabelle, but you can call me Iz or Izzy," Isabelle said as she picked up a piece of broccoli and put it in her mouth.

Clary looked up, "It's good to meet you. I'm Clary… well I guess you already know that," Clary had a fleeting smile cross her lips that Jace did not miss. It was the first time that he had seen anything remotely close to a smile on her face.

"I'm Max," Max said looking up from his comic book and noticing the stranger in the room.

"Hi Max, how old are you?"

"I'm 9… almost 10. My birthday is…" Max wouldn't give up a chance at making sure everyone knew his birthday was coming up.

Alec cut in before Max could finish his sentence. "Yes, Max. We all know that your birthday is next week. Believe me, we've been reminded many times," Alec leaned back in his chair and looked over at Clary, "I'm Alec."

"Ten?" Clary asked, "I would have thought you were much older than that! I have two sisters who are about your age. Well, one is younger and one is almost exactly your age."

"Really," Maxs' eyes lit up, "Am I going to get to meet them?"

"Probably not," Clary looked sad when she said this, "They are in California."

"But why are they in California and you are here?" The courage of ten year olds, they just didn't know when to stop.

"Well," Clary was obviously choosing her words carefully, "I just needed to get away," she looked around the room, "and I figured New York would be a good place to go."

"Oh," Max said, obviously confused.

"Are you all Lightwoods?" Clary asked trying to change the subject

"No, I'm not," Jace answered, "Well, not by blood anyways. But I have been living with them for what feels like eternity!"

"Oh, and where are your parents?" Clary asked.

"Dead. Both of them."

Clary gasped and Jace chuckled, just a little, under his breath. This was the usual reaction he got when he told people about his parents, "Don't worry about it, it was a long time ago. I actually never even knew my mom and my dad I can barely remember. The Lightwoods are my parents now."

"Oh," Clary stated as she sat in silence digesting the information and picking at her food.

"Okay, enough of the boring talk, I want to show Clary around the Institute." Isabelle hopped out of her chair and then looked at Clarys plate and sat down again, "Once you're done eating, of course."

Clary looked down at her plate and back up at Isabelle, "I'm done actually."

"Great!" Isabelle hopped back up and practically dragged Clary out the door. All three of the boys in the room watched the girls disappear.

"She's really pretty," Max said his eyes not leaving the door.

"Yeah Max, she is. But don't you think she's a little old for you?" Jace had to hide his laughter as Alec called his brother on his crush.

"No. I will be ten next week," Max said indignantly.

"Yeah, but that would still leave you light years behind her."

"Hey, it could happen," Max gathered up his comic books and walked out the door in a huff.

The two boys watched him walk out and then Alec turned to Jace, "You know Jace, she is really pretty."

"Yeah she is," Jace said thoughtfully. "But I'm not getting involved with her. I refuse. I don't need any more girl trouble in my life."

"I'm not saying 'get involved' in the way you usually do. What I'm saying is maybe an actual relationship might do you some good. Ground you a bit, in a way."

"I don't need any 'grounding', Alec. I'm perfectly fine the way I am." Jace walked his empty plate over to the sink, "And plus, maybe she doesn't even find me attractive," he mused for a nano second, "Nah, that's not even possible."

Alec laughed and Jace couldn't help but smile.

**

Clary stared up at the music room, at least that's what she called it in her mind. Isabelle had called it the den, but music room sounded so much more sophisticated to Clary. In one corner sat a baby grand piano that her fingers were itching to get her hands on. Next to it was a couple guitars lined up against the wall, and a bunch of sheet music was sitting in the chair next to them. Clary sighed, Drew, her brother, would love this. Clary had grown up playing the piano and Drew had grown up playing the guitar. While Clary could play the guitar, Drew was much better.

"Do you play?" Isabelle questioned as she motioned to the instruments.

"The piano, and the guitar, a little."

"You'll have to play for us sometime then. I don't play and neither do Alec or Max, but Jace is really good. Maybe you guys could do a duet or something," Isabelle smirked.

"Yeah maybe," Clary doubted it; she never played with anyone but her family.

"Moving on," Izzy had already started out the hall and was passing the library, "This is the library, it's basically where my mom and dad spend all their time."

Clary nodded. She had already seen the library. They walked for a few more moments and Izzy opened up the door to another room, "And this is the weapons room, where Jace and Alec like to spend their free time."

Clary peered in. There was an array of weapons leaning against all of the walls. Some big, some little. Clary noticed a corner dedicated completely to seraph blades, a corner of whips and a corner of bows and arrows. In between each of the corners were various other weapons, daggers, long swords, axes… you name it, they had it. The room had a cold feeling to it. The floor was solid wood and so were the walls. There was one single bench towards the back, but other than that the room was pretty open. Clary thought back to the weapon room in California, it had been carpeted with couches on one side. The lights shone bright, supposedly to make the inhabitant of the room feel at ease as they picked their weapon. Clary stepped out of the room and started ambling down the hall Isabelle right behind her.

"So…" Isabelle began, obviously wanting to know more about their new resident, "You're from California…" she ventured a statement, hoping to get some information.

"Yeah, my family runs the Institute there." Clary wasn't in the mood for opening up.

"Oh that's cool, I've never been to California," Isabelle wound a lock of long dark hair through her fingers, "Come to think of it, I've never been outside of New York."

Clary gasped, "You've never been outside of New York?"

"Well, Idris of course. But no where else really…" Isabelle trailed off.

"Wow, you're missing out! There is so much out there to see!"

"I figured, but my parents have never been big on leaving the Institute, and if they do they usually go by themselves."

"Well, if you ever get out of New York you should definitely visit the west coast. It's amazing. So gorgeous." Clarys mind began to wander back to her home, "Seriously, the beach there. Amazing. The weather there, amazing. The people, so laid back and chill. I miss it…"

"So why did you leave? I mean, I know you told Max you just had to get away, but what did you have to get away from?" Isabelle knew it was a blunt question but she had to ask.

"I, uh.." Clary snapped back into reality, "It really wasn't a choice I made. I had to. I had to start over. Some stuff happened, stuff I'd rather not talk about, sorry."

"Oh, well that's ok. But if you ever do need someone to talk to, I'm here…" Isabelle couldn't hide the fact that she was genuinely curious, but she also knew that Clary needed to deal with whatever drove her from her home on her own terms.

They stopped in front of another room, this one had double doors that swung open. There were also windows in each of the doors so someone passing by could look in. "This is the training room. We practice here twice a day, once in the morning and the next in the early afternoon. It helps us keep our skills finely tuned," Isabelle opened up one of the doors and had Clary follow her in.

The training room looked almost exactly like a large dance studio, Clary thought. One huge wall was covered in mirrors, so the person could see themselves, see their form. The ground was a bouncy blue mat that Clary had seen many times in tumbling gyms. At the back there were punching bags and weights. 'So that's where Jace gets his finely toned body', Clary jumped when she realized what she had just passed through her mind.

Isabelle walked towards the back storage closet as if looking for something. Clary watched her for a second and then walked over to the mirrors. So many times in her life she had stood in front of a mirror exactly like this and had practiced a dance or technique. She felt her body begin to itch, wanting to move. She suddenly began to hear soft music in her ears. She recognized the song, it was from her dance competition a year ago. The same competition from which she won state with her dance solo. Her body began moving almost involuntarily. She started with turns, doing about five fouettes, and then she moved on to leaps. Clary was so involved in her own little world she didn't even hear Isabelle come up from behind her.

"You're good," Isabelle stated, jerking Clary out of her trance. Clary stumbled a bit out of surprise but caught herself and turned to Izzy.

"Thanks, uh, sorry I just…" Clary tried to explain what was going on but couldn't, "I guess I just can't help myself." She shrugged and grinned sheepishly at Iz.

"Well if I could dance like that I probably couldn't either," Isabelle laughed a little, "Anyways I think we're done with the tour. You could keep dancing if you wanted, or we could go watch a movie… We don't usually watch movies here… or TV for that matter, but I figure tonight's an exception."

"A movie sounds great!" Clary laughed and followed Isabelle out the door and down to the media room.

**

Clary rolled over looking at her clock 4:47 a.m. The night had been a rough one. She kept having dreams about _it_, over and over again. She closed her eyes and that night came back to her more vividly than it had in months. She saw the look in his eyes, hungry, malicious. She cried out when he had ripped at her clothes. She struggled to move but her limbs weren't working right. What had he done to her? Clary jerked her eyes open again not wanting to replay anything more than she had to.

She swung her legs over the side of her bed and stretched out her limbs. Clary then fumbled around her duffle bag pulling out some purple dance pants, black sports bra and her black jazz shoes. She quickly shuffled over to the bathroom and placed all the contents on the counter, along with her face wash, make up, blow dryer, shampoo and conditioner. She hopped in the shower, savoring the feeling of the pellets of water on her skin. She could feel the tension in her body begin to melt away. If she could stay in that position all day she knew she would. She reluctantly shampooed and conditioned her hair. She then moved on to washing her body and shaving her legs and under arms. Clary sat for a few more moments under the water before slowly turning the knob to the off position.

She stepped lightly out of the shower and wrapped herself in a towel, drying her hair with another one. She looked at herself in the mirror and couldn't help but think that she resembled a drowned rat. She quickly put on her dance wear and then went to work on blow drying her hair and putting on just a touch of make up. Twenty minutes later she looked at herself in the mirror and smiled.

She walked through her room, the early morning sun falling through her blinds on her windows. She grabbed a few things and stuffed them into her small dance bag. She then slipped out the door and headed down to the training room. Isabelle told her that their morning training sessions didn't start until 7:00 so she knew she had about an hour to herself in that room.

When she entered the room the first thing she did was plug in her ihome that she had stuffed in her bag. She then placed her ipod on it and started her 'dance' playlist.

Clary walked over to the mirror and looked herself up and down. It had been a couple of weeks since she had let herself go and just immerse herself in one of her passions. Her muscles began pulling at her and she relented when she started stretching.

**

Jace woke with a start. He rolled over and willed himself to go back to sleep but as hard as he tried he knew he was wide awake. He looked at the clock realizing his alarm clock was going to go off in twenty minutes anyways, it was 5:57. Jace rolled himself out of bed and pulled on his black Nike work out shorts and a black t shirt. He quickly did a few grooming necessities: brushing his teeth, washing his face, that sort of thing, and then made his way down to the training room figuring he would get a head start for the day.

As he got closer to the training room he began to hear noises. The closer he got the more words he could make out, it was music. Jace stopped at the door and opened it but didn't go in. He looked around, looking for the source of the music. He saw the ihome with an ipod plugged in. He looked around wondering who's it was. That's when he saw her, Clary. She had her back to him and didn't turn around when he opened the door, she obviously didn't hear him. She was moving her body in perfect fluid motions, her timing perfect with the music. He watched as her long hair swayed across her perfectly toned back and her lean legs moved in little patterns across the floor. He was mesmerized. He couldn't move all he could do was watch. She began lightly running and then she was up in the air, kicking out her legs in a perfect line. She landed softly on her feet and almost immediately did a back handspring. Jace had never seen anyone dance before. Sure he had seen some odd gyrating moves at the clubs that he had been to but nothing ever like this. She was so graceful, so beautiful; he wished he could watch her forever.

She went on for a few more minutes, completely oblivious to her audience. She watched herself in the mirror, making sure that all her moves were perfect. Clary sank down into the splits as the song ended. She sat there for a moment, before feeling the eyes on her back. She turned and looked at him, her lips forming a silent 'O'. She ran over to the ipod and turned off the music before another song could start.

"I'm so sorry! Did the music wake you up?" She came over to Jace, obviously concerned.

Jace felt his face begin to go hot and he had to fight to push it back down and put up a wall between him and this girl. "Well, it is," he looked at the clock on the wall, "6:25 and you are blaring music like it's mid day," he said, hoping that he had been able to recover quick enough. When her lips began to form a pout he knew it had worked.

"I'm sorry, I just… I didn't think anyone could hear. I obviously wasn't thinking, I'm sorry." Clary walked over to her things and began to pack them back up in her bag.

"You don't have to leave," Jace said, all the sudden worried that he had run her off with his sarcastic comment.

"Well I know that you will be starting training here in a minute so I probably should go. I… uh… I have a lot of things to do today."

"Like what?" Jace asked incredulously.

"Well, I…" Clary stuttered, obviously not being able to think of something she needed to do.

"Why don't you stay, train with me today? I mean, I could use someone else to par with, it's getting really old beating Alec and Isabelle everyday," Jace knew there was no way she could get out of it now, and he didn't want her to. He wanted her to stay, wanted to get to know this mysterious girl a little bit more. There was something about her, something that intrigued him. He could tell she had been hurt, somehow, and he – for some reason – wanted to help her. Jace shook his head trying to clear his mind of his hero complex. He knew that he shouldn't get involved with her life, he shouldn't care at all. But in the deep recesses of his heart he knew that he did.

"Ok," Clary said, putting her things that she had picked up back down on the ground. "That sounds like fun." She ventured a small smile at Jace and he felt his heart quicken.


End file.
